I still go to PetsMart with my boyfriend sometimes to get snails for one of his dwarf puffers that won't eat anything else.
They haven't sold rabbits or ferrets in years *hooray!*
They've also stopped selling hamsters which is really shocking to me.
Still have rats, gerbils, and birds though =-/ I do my best not to walk by that section of the store.
Also I guess there was an announcement on the dwarf puffer forum that they will stop selling fish in the next year, but I'll believe that when I see it.
Is there such a thing as a "good" pet store?
Where do you all buy your carefresh and aspen on line? I need to buy the big bags (my hay loft has this bedding), not the little ones I can find a the grocery store. Only Petsmart, Tractor Supply Co, ect carry the ginormous bags i want. Right now, I'm going to a Meijrs. Meijers (similar to Walmart, just not as huge and with a better reccord of treating their employees) SAYS they will stop selling animals and so far they've closed down everything but the fish. If they don't keep their word (they've stopped selling animals in the past) I need another source.
The carefresh I still buy locally. I go to a store that does not sell pets.
Tractor Supply does not sell animals, do they? I go there or my local Agway for bedding for my other small animals. My boys are on fleece and my new girls will be when they get moved to their new cage.
Tractor Supply does not sell animals, do they? I go there or my local Agway for bedding for my other small animals. My boys are on fleece and my new girls will be when they get moved to their new cage.
Just read thru this thread and it got me thinking -
Yes, I TOTALLY understand why adopting from a shelter is a better idea.
The thing is, there are people who ARE going to breed regardless - they don't care. It's hard to change that.
There are pet stores that WILL buy these babies and sell them.
Education is obviously the way to go, both for breeders and pet stores, and for people buying also. That is a long hard road, educating all those people and getting them to see 'right'.
On the flip side, knowing that there ARE people breeding - either they don't know better, they want to make a couple dollars, whatever their reasons - the poor creatures that end up in the pet store - they should be the focus, I think. They were already born, innocent as they are, they are the ones suffering. They need homes too, hopefully not just sitting there in the store waiting to be bought as a feeder for someone's snake, (though I guess snakes have to eat SOMETHING, but ugh) or sitting in the store getting sick(er) and getting less than optimal care and possibly dying there miserably.
I don't know. Education COULD go a long way. But people sometimes don't listen. Some won't ever listen. I just hate to see the animals suffer for it :(
Yes, I TOTALLY understand why adopting from a shelter is a better idea.
The thing is, there are people who ARE going to breed regardless - they don't care. It's hard to change that.
There are pet stores that WILL buy these babies and sell them.
Education is obviously the way to go, both for breeders and pet stores, and for people buying also. That is a long hard road, educating all those people and getting them to see 'right'.
On the flip side, knowing that there ARE people breeding - either they don't know better, they want to make a couple dollars, whatever their reasons - the poor creatures that end up in the pet store - they should be the focus, I think. They were already born, innocent as they are, they are the ones suffering. They need homes too, hopefully not just sitting there in the store waiting to be bought as a feeder for someone's snake, (though I guess snakes have to eat SOMETHING, but ugh) or sitting in the store getting sick(er) and getting less than optimal care and possibly dying there miserably.
I don't know. Education COULD go a long way. But people sometimes don't listen. Some won't ever listen. I just hate to see the animals suffer for it :(
Last edited by PigPig3 on Sun May 04, 2008 1:20 pm, edited 2 times in total.
When you go and "rescue" one of those petstore pigs, the petstore sees the empty tank, calls the breeder to order another pig, the breeder sees that the petstore is still ordering, and breeds their sow again. The petstore makes money (when you buy the supplies for the pig), the breeder makes money when the petstore buys the babies. People are motivated by money, and they won't quit if they can make more money. The babies move out of the petstore fast enough (because you wanted to "rescue" them) that the breeder and petstore don't have to treat them for Mites or a URI. You took them off their hands before anything became a big issue!
Don't buy pigs from a pet store. Ever. You are the fist step in the process that starts the breeder getting her sow pregnant.
SOme of my rescues came from a breeder who neglected her pigs horribly. They had skin that looked like raw meat. This breeder had some seirous mental health issues and was taken into custody. Clearly not the typical breeder. The rest of my rescues came from a breeder who seemed quite responsible on the surface. The baby pigs in the petstore were unusal colors, healthy looking, and cute. The problem arose when someone went to her house to buy a baby directly from her. The pigs who were making the babies were left un treatd for mites, URI, tooth issues (she was breeding roans), ect. Plus, they were living in wire cages with urine from the pigs above dripping on them. She thought this was all OK since they weren't pets and could make babies faster as non-pets!
Anyways, just don't do it. The pigs in the store right this second are suffering, but by buying them you're condeming the breeding stock to more suffering and all their future babies to the same.
Don't buy pigs from a pet store. Ever. You are the fist step in the process that starts the breeder getting her sow pregnant.
SOme of my rescues came from a breeder who neglected her pigs horribly. They had skin that looked like raw meat. This breeder had some seirous mental health issues and was taken into custody. Clearly not the typical breeder. The rest of my rescues came from a breeder who seemed quite responsible on the surface. The baby pigs in the petstore were unusal colors, healthy looking, and cute. The problem arose when someone went to her house to buy a baby directly from her. The pigs who were making the babies were left un treatd for mites, URI, tooth issues (she was breeding roans), ect. Plus, they were living in wire cages with urine from the pigs above dripping on them. She thought this was all OK since they weren't pets and could make babies faster as non-pets!
Anyways, just don't do it. The pigs in the store right this second are suffering, but by buying them you're condeming the breeding stock to more suffering and all their future babies to the same.
Absolutely the pigs in the pet store deserve a good home, they've done nothing wrong. It's just that your money is contributing to more pigs being born in horrible situations and sold quickly to recoup some of the expense.
I had a coworker say to me (regarding pet stores): "Well, you can't save 'em all." My response was that I can do my part by educating those that will listen, and refusing to give any of my money to the pet stores.
It's hard to not to want to save every animal in a pet store. You just have to remember that for every single pet store animal purchased there has been so much collateral damage. It makes a difference for that *one* animal but leads to suffering in many more (shelter animal that doesn't have home, momma pig bred to produce replacement, and the next pig in line). It isn't worth it.
I had a coworker say to me (regarding pet stores): "Well, you can't save 'em all." My response was that I can do my part by educating those that will listen, and refusing to give any of my money to the pet stores.
It's hard to not to want to save every animal in a pet store. You just have to remember that for every single pet store animal purchased there has been so much collateral damage. It makes a difference for that *one* animal but leads to suffering in many more (shelter animal that doesn't have home, momma pig bred to produce replacement, and the next pig in line). It isn't worth it.
Lucky - that Petsmart store you go to may not carry ferrets or rabbits but many others do. They are a corporation with a ton of stores.
Boo I was hoping that was a chain thing. It seems to at least be the trend in the Midwest.
SHOP AMAZON